After working out a buyout with the Pistons Friday, Blake Griffin appears to be on his way to Brooklyn, according to various reports on Twitter.
The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly leaders in signing six-time All-Star Blake Griffin, my sources tell me. @JLEdwardsIII. Competitive teams with interest expect Griffin Nets to be the title favorite for the chance to win a championship.
– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) 5 March 2021
The Nets are considered a strong contender for Blake Griffin given Brooklyn’s rise and his long-standing relationship with players there and the Celtics have also shown interest, league sources say.
– Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) 5 March 2021
Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke the buyout story, also reported that the Nets were among the leaders for the six-time All-Star services.
The Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be among the teams Griffin will consider for his next stop, sources told ESPN.
Griffin, 31, is expected to make a decision on his next team after talks with prospective teams, sources said.
Assuming the buyout and waiver takes place on Friday, Griffin would be an unrestricted free agent by Sunday, the day of the NBA All-Star game … and the end of the Nets’ three ten-day contracts signed by Andre Roberson , Tyler Cook and Iman Shumpert.
Griffin is close to DeAndre Jordan, with whom he played for eight years as part of the Clippers’ “Lob City.” He also worked with the Nets ‘Big Three’ in Los Angeles this past summer and played with Bruce Brown in Detroit for two years.
Griffin owes $ 76 million next year and next year. No word on how much Griffin will receive, but if he needs more than a minimum agreement for veterinarians to sign, the Nets have the taxpayers MLE (as long as Joe Tsai is willing to pay more in luxury taxes.) Yossi Gozlan, the Capologist from Hoopshype the math …
If the Nets need to use an exception to sign Griffin, it makes sense to use their MLE on him, as they can use the DPE to later obtain a current contract in a trade.
Assuming he is turned down today, Griffin will clear remissions on Sunday. Nets MLE will then be worth $ 5.36 million. https://t.co/gROgtmVqF7
– Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) 5 March 2021
Griffin, of course, lost more than a bit of his once staggering athleticism to an injury. Over the past few years, he has had problems with both knees, his right big toe, his right ankle, with the most recent event, arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April 2019, leading to a major retreat.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN wrote this following the impending buyout …
As many have noted, Griffin has yet to successfully dive this season. According to data analysis from Basketball-Reference.com, Griffin is the only player taller than 6 feet-7 who has tried to make more than 150 shots without a single dunk this season.
Last season, when he was limited to 18 games, Griffin averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 boards and 3.3 assists. Here is a video everyone its field goals from 2019-20.
This season, he played only 20 games before the Pistons closed him out late last month. He was with 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Two years ago, when he was last healthy, Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 boards and 5.4 assists while shooting 36.2 percent from depth.
“If Blake is bought out, there will be a lot of interest, but how much savings is Blake willing to take?” CEO for a playoff team in the Eastern Conference, HoopsHype Mike Scotto said last month. ‘He can provide a spark off the bench. If he is healthy, he can start if the team has a need, but he is probably more of a rotation player now. ”
Similarly, in a recent episode of his “Lowe Post” podcast, Zach Lowe suggested that Griffin, with his BBIQ, post and fit, could fit as a backup 5.